January 6, 2026 • 18 mins
The Trump administration kicks off the new year with a massive foreign policy move in Venezuela, seizing Nicolás Maduro and sending a shockwave through the region and beyond. Buck is joined by Steve Yates of the Heritage Foundation to break down what comes next, why this operation is fundamentally different from past U.S. interventions, and how adversaries like China, Russia, and Iran are likely interpreting the message. They also discuss the implications for Cuba, Latin America, global energy markets, and what this signals about America’s willingness to exert power closer to home.
Never miss a moment from Buck by subscribing to the Buck Sexton Show Podcast on IHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts!
Connect with Buck Sexton:
Facebook – / bucksexton
X – @bucksexton
Instagram – @bucksexton
TikTok - @BuckSexton
YouTube - @BuckSexton
Website – https://www.bucksexton.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
You're listening to the Buck Sexton Show podcast, make sure
you subscribe to the podcast on the iHeartRadio app or
wherever you get your podcasts. Kicking off the new year
with a huge bang actual banks, many of them in
Caracas and the surrounding area. Trump administration swinging for the
fences right away with a tactically incredible operation to seize
(00:38):
Maduro and take him now to the United States where
he faces the full weight of the federal criminal justice system. Massive,
massive move in Venezuela. Our friend Stephen Yates joins us. Now,
let's talk about the what's next and the big strategic
implications of this. We went into Steve Steve's with the
Heritage Foundation, you know's senior fellow there. He's a senior
(00:58):
national security guy to a former White House and Steve,
let's start with it. I want to get into the
immediate what's next a little bit, but also the implications
for how the rest of the world is looking at
this with you. Let's start with I get it. There's
this concern always of the non intervention has sent a
(01:18):
little one note to me on this one and not
an inventions might be a little too kind. I think
some of them are are a little more isolationist, even
the non interventionists. But oh my gosh, do we this
this is going to be Iraq again. I want you
to give me your sense of why that's certainly too
it's not the case yet, and why it's unlikely to
(01:39):
be the case that this is the quagmire that every
that's not everyone, but that some people are freaking out about.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Well Buck, yeah, you're definitely right that the chorus has
already begun, and they're sort of in the first or
second chorus of their of their song at this point.
And I was there in the White House when the
build up for the Iraq War was being made. I
saw the early stages of shokun Awe and frankly was
blown away with how effective that initial stage was. But
(02:09):
I was also there for Colin Powell, second former Secretary
of State, giving his infamous Pottery barn analogy that if
it's broken, you own it. I have never believed such
things when it comes to warfare international affairs, but it
seemed to win the day at the time, And of
course the rest of the script is now famous or infamous,
depending on your point of view. We did get into
(02:31):
the building of writing constitutions and trying to run agencies
and trying to put democracy where it hadn't been before.
And there's no element of that here, But I understand
why some people are reflexively lurching toward that, as the
President laid out a pretty open ended statement of We're
(02:52):
going to run the place for a judicious transition until
things can get underway with a leadership we know we
can deal with. So it does sort of rhetorically leave
some doors open. But what he's done is he's kept
the Golden Armada at see. So whatever oil there is
(03:13):
in Venezuela isn't getting anywhere unless the United States wants
it to get anywhere. That ghost fleet is not going
to be shipping. There is going to be pretty strong
pressure to work with the administration to make some kind
of a deal. But Dureau made the grave mistake of
when Donald Trump offers you a deal, thinking he shouldn't
take it seriously. Then he made the even more grave
(03:34):
mistake of trying to wave a sword in Trump's face
and daring him to come and get him. And while
here we are, but I see none of the echoes
of what the Iran or Afghanistan nation building experiences were
This is not the Middle East. We are dealing with
mafia like, cartel like organizations, and maybe some people see
(03:58):
jihadists organizations that way, but in some ways the cartels
are not as true believer as those Islamist groups might be,
and a lot of times they are better at shifting
gears and working out a new deal. So we still
have a lot to sort out. We've only gotten a
bad guy apprehended at this point, and the next leadership
(04:21):
is still to be determined. But this is very very
different in a lot of different respects.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
To me, what does that look like? How does this
become MacArthur in Japan circa end of World War Two
instead of Bremmer in Iraq circa two thousand and three.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well, number one, it seems like the Secretary of State
is and our National security advisor Mark Rubio are working
with the Vice President who's now the acting head of Venezuela,
and that is very, very different than what debathification was
in Iraq, and it's sort of disappointing to people who
(05:04):
are activist and wanted an immediate transition to democracy. I
would count myself among those that would like to see
it move in that direction faster, and we may. Yet
I do think some kind of a legitimate national election
has to be on the horizon as part of this transition.
That's where this controversy really originated. Maduro lost the last
(05:27):
election in Venezuela by a lot and yet kept power,
and the legitimate winner was pushed into exile. So that's
how we end up where we are. He's not the
legitimate head of the government. And that's also different from
what we faced in Iraq and Libya and elsewhere where
(05:47):
you had long established dictators that were running their countries.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yes, I mean I think that, for one thing, you're
not going to have even the most devoted Maduro thugs
strapping suicide vests on and running into crowded marketplaces like
that's that's not a thing.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
That's not going exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah. So this notion that oh, we're making the same
mistake as man in the least, I think is an absurdity.
And also I think that for the people, As a
guy who lives in South Florida, you're obviously you know
the Florida seene well, but you're a little bit to
my north. South Florida. We have a ton. You probably
have a lot of Venezuelans in the Tampa area too.
We have a ton of Venezuelan refugees down here. And
(06:31):
there's no debate among Venezuelans who have come this country
Chavez Majuro ruined their country. I mean, it's not like
we're stomping in there and there's some big constituency that says, no,
he actually is doing a good job, and no, we
let the test run itself out and it economically, security side, internationally,
(06:53):
you name it. It's hard to think of a faster
way to ruin a country, or a more thorough ruining
of a country than what the Chavista Maduro apparatus accomplished
in Venezuela.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
It's absolutely true. Really, over the last twenty five years,
there have been a lot of Venezuelans and a lot
of American cities. There's plenty in the DC area, as
witnessed recently in New York, there's plenty of people. And
while the teachers' unions and others might have organized in
protest for Trump's action, Venezuelans almost universally were just saying
(07:28):
thank you and celebrating that this thug was removed they
more than anybody know that there's still much more to go.
But Venezuela was a very beautiful, wealthy, successful country. A
lot of Americans really don't have the perspective that it's
only like four hundred and fifty miles to American territory
(07:49):
in Puerto Rico, and it's only like the distance between
Denver and d C to get from Caracas to Miami,
and so this is not that far away. You throw
into the mix the links of just like you mentioned
the Venezuelans that are in Miami, the Free Cuba constituency
and the Free Venezuela constituency are very simpatico and very similar.
(08:14):
And just like there were Cubans that were killed in
this raid mixed in with the wrong side, there are
a lot of Cubans in Venezuelans and the United States
that are mixed in together on the right side of this.
And that's a constituency that should matter. And as long
as we aren't sending in an occupation force and trying
(08:35):
to send the next generation of Americans to provide police
work inside of Venezuela, then we're staying, I think clear
where we're using the leverage we have President Trump's made
clear we're going to use the oil for revenue, and
that is also a glide path to a different trajectory
(08:56):
in whatever deal is struck. Even if we don't get
anything out of the oil, denying it to Russia, China
and others has an impact and the demonstration effect of
what the United States is capable of doing. And I
think it's been undervalued that if America was going to
let the revisionists bad guys of the world muck around
(09:18):
in our own backyard, then they didn't really believe we
were going to do very much in our distant abroad.
So if you're wondering how a China or Russia or
in Iran looks at this, it might not change all
of their calculus, but it shows well, if America is
really serious about fixing its border, and holy cow, did
(09:38):
we do a job on that, and we're serious about
fixing our neighborhood and pushing it into the right direction,
I do have to think twice about whether America is
ready to use force to shape things in my neighborhood too.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
You think we're going to get into that. I want
to talk about the axis of opposition around the world
and how they must see this, including the implications for
a standoff that is near and dear to your heart
and mind, which is of course China and Taiwan. But
just on Cuba. Do you think we know that the
(10:12):
Cuban regime was propped up by the oil from Venezuela
and that it's already it's a decrepit disaster of a
government and has been for a long time, but increasingly
now it's it's decrepit and just pathetic, right, It's you know,
there's no there's no hiding from the reality of what
they've done to their island and everything else. What do
you think the smart next steps look like from the
(10:32):
US side to continue on with the wind streak here
that we have in Venezuela as it pertains to Cuba.
What what should we do? What could we do? Well?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
First, we need to finish through to something that resembles
a positive, stable outcome in Venezuela. I think a real
transition where there's a completely different relationship with the United States,
where exiles feel safe to return. Then that I think
(11:04):
sets an extremely dangerous precedent for the Cuban regime to
stay in power, because there are a lot of Cubans
that would like to be able to go back, and
a lot of people living in Cuba know that if
those people came back, they're bringing wealth, entrepreneurship, opportunity ties
to the rest of the world that have been denied
them for generations. They know that the economic legitimacy of
(11:30):
that is very, very powerful, and if they see that
turn in Venezuela decisively, that is I think the single
best down payment we may But there's already been elections
in Latin America that are starting to turn our way.
Chile's had an election, we already have the very famous
Malay in Argentina. We have some Central American leaders who
(11:51):
have ruffled liberal feathers in the United States by showing
that they're ready to crack down on crime and get
serious about a positive relationship with the United States. I
think the next move with regard to Mexico is going
to have a real strong signal sent to Cuba and
other parts of the region. And frankly, Canada should wake
(12:12):
up a bit, given that Canada has has rested on
its laurels that we are dependent on energy from them,
and uh, if we have a new relationship with Venezuela,
where that black gold is flowing into our markets and refineries.
We're less dependent on Canada and we could have a
tougher negotiating position, and they'll kick themselves for not seeing
(12:36):
the Excel pipeline through.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
I think we find the headline for this podcast coming
out of nowhere here, but I like it. Watch your ass.
Canada says exactly, you better better, You better to check yourself.
Forget about Russia and China. It's Canada that these Anyway,
we'll come back into that action because I do want
to know and seriousness what you think about Russia, China
(12:59):
and others who are observing this situation. But our sponsor
here is Birch Gold Group. A new year means new
financial goals, like making sure your savings are secure and diversified.
So my question for all of you is will you
take my advice and reach out to Birch Gold Group.
I've already purchased gold from them myself. I've got their
gold in my safe, We've got gold coins, gold bars,
and they have a very good educational approach to this.
(13:21):
They want you, as an investor to understand a long
term gold thesis and why it is sound. Birch Gold
Group truly believes every American should own some physical gold
until January thirtieth. If your first time gold buyer, Birch
Gold is offering a rebate up to ten thousand dollars
on qualifying purchases. To claim eligibility, start the process text
my name buck Do ninety eight, ninety eight ninety eight.
Birch Gold can help you roll existing ira or four
(13:43):
oh one k into an IRA in gold and you're
still eligible for a rebate of up to ten thousand dollars.
Make right now your first time to buy gold and
take advantage of a rebate up to ten thousand dollars
when you buy by January thirtieth. Text the name buck
buck to ninety eight ninety eight ninety eight. Claim your
eligibility today text buck Do ninety eight, ninety eight, ninety eight.
All right, mister Yates, it's like a little bit of
(14:03):
around the horn here, responses changes, strategic setbacks or advantages
when it comes to Venezuela, let's start with let's start
with what Russia sees out of this, if anything, Well.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Number one, I'd say a lot of mostly liberal commentators
made the mistake of imagining that Putin or Cgenping or
any of these guys really care at all about the
international law or the United Nations. It's basically a forum
for them to bloviate. After all, Russia chaired the emergency
meeting on the invasion of Ukraine. That's how useful and
(14:38):
relevant that forum is, and so they'll agitate a bit.
I don't think it changes a lot of Moscow's calculation
with regard to the offerings on the ceasefire with Ukraine,
other than President Trump does burnish his reputation of Look,
I'm willing to sit down and be open to a deal,
(15:00):
but you better freaking make it. Drag it along with me,
and I am not afraid to use leverage and power
at my discretion and you just might feel it. So
if there's a way to change Putin's calculus, maybe that's
in there, but I wouldn't give that heavy weight. But
I think that this really did hit at China's calculations
(15:23):
in some more significant ways. If you look at what
the administration has done the designation of the cartels as
terrorist organizations. Those cartels have been the primary distributors and
money laundering organizations for the fentanyl trade that China's been
involved in. That's ding number one. We went after their
(15:43):
role in the Panama Canal. That project is incomplete, but
at least planted the flag. That was the first place
the Secretary of Rubio went as Secretary of State, very
different trajectory from his predecessors, but it planted the flag
in our hemisphere in a really strategic place that Chinese
thought they were having some advantage in this Venezuela move.
China has been using technical and strategic advantage. They want
(16:05):
to be able to have diversified oil supply. They like
having a base of operation that it's close to the
US and can kind of muck around in our hood,
and they have done so, and so really in some
ways it's degraded some of the leverage and disruption options
that China might have had if the balloon were to
go up in the Taiwan Straits, where they might have
pressured us to worry more about our near abroad and
(16:27):
pull back from supporting people in the First island chain
of Asia.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Almost seems remarkable, I think when people understand how much
the oil that was going out. Obviously Cuba is very
close by, and so that you could understand how that
relationship comes about. You got two commis that are a
short boat ride apart, but that Russia, China, Iran are
(16:52):
all involved in oil buying and the and oil access
when it comes to Venezuela, I think that seems kinnter too,
especially in the case of Russia, which has tremendous oil
reserves itself, but it's fungible, it's global, it's an asset,
and they're they're able to buy it because they don't
care about our sanctions, right, they buy it at cut
(17:14):
rate prices.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yeah, And that's kind of the point, is that number
one Venezuela has a much larger proven supply than people remember.
Somehow it's just sort of forgotten as an OPEC member,
but has a very substantial proven reserve. And the other
thing is it's been critical to any form of sanctions busting,
(17:38):
whether it's Iran, Russia or China. When sanctions are threatened
or imposed are more cooperative allies like Saudi Arabia, United
Arab Emirates and others will occasionally pull back from the
closeness of relations with those that have gotten themselves in trouble.
Venezuela was operating with its ghost fleet on the high seas,
(17:59):
which I think is the definition of piracy and why
we have navies. But it was the sanctions busting kind
of component of this to diversify that supply that matter.
It matters so much to China that they were looking
at digging an alternative to the Panama Canal through another
isthmus in Central America in order to have total control
(18:20):
in time of crisis. So yes, it was much more
important to our adversaries than people thought.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
It deviates everybody. He's at the Heritage Foundation. Follow him
on social media on X and mister Yates, we'll be
talking to you again soon.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Thanks very much, Buck Pleasure
You're listening to the Buck Sexton Show podcast, make sure
you subscribe to the podcast on the iHeartRadio app or
wherever you get your podcasts. Kicking off the new year
with a huge bang actual banks, many of them in
Caracas and the surrounding area. Trump administration swinging for the
fences right away with a tactically incredible operation to seize
(00:38):
Maduro and take him now to the United States where
he faces the full weight of the federal criminal justice system. Massive,
massive move in Venezuela. Our friend Stephen Yates joins us. Now,
let's talk about the what's next and the big strategic
implications of this. We went into Steve Steve's with the
Heritage Foundation, you know's senior fellow there. He's a senior
(00:58):
national security guy to a former White House and Steve,
let's start with it. I want to get into the
immediate what's next a little bit, but also the implications
for how the rest of the world is looking at
this with you. Let's start with I get it. There's
this concern always of the non intervention has sent a
(01:18):
little one note to me on this one and not
an inventions might be a little too kind. I think
some of them are are a little more isolationist, even
the non interventionists. But oh my gosh, do we this
this is going to be Iraq again. I want you
to give me your sense of why that's certainly too
it's not the case yet, and why it's unlikely to
(01:39):
be the case that this is the quagmire that every
that's not everyone, but that some people are freaking out about.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Well Buck, yeah, you're definitely right that the chorus has
already begun, and they're sort of in the first or
second chorus of their of their song at this point.
And I was there in the White House when the
build up for the Iraq War was being made. I
saw the early stages of shokun Awe and frankly was
blown away with how effective that initial stage was. But
(02:09):
I was also there for Colin Powell, second former Secretary
of State, giving his infamous Pottery barn analogy that if
it's broken, you own it. I have never believed such
things when it comes to warfare international affairs, but it
seemed to win the day at the time, And of
course the rest of the script is now famous or infamous,
depending on your point of view. We did get into
(02:31):
the building of writing constitutions and trying to run agencies
and trying to put democracy where it hadn't been before.
And there's no element of that here, But I understand
why some people are reflexively lurching toward that, as the
President laid out a pretty open ended statement of We're
(02:52):
going to run the place for a judicious transition until
things can get underway with a leadership we know we
can deal with. So it does sort of rhetorically leave
some doors open. But what he's done is he's kept
the Golden Armada at see. So whatever oil there is
(03:13):
in Venezuela isn't getting anywhere unless the United States wants
it to get anywhere. That ghost fleet is not going
to be shipping. There is going to be pretty strong
pressure to work with the administration to make some kind
of a deal. But Dureau made the grave mistake of
when Donald Trump offers you a deal, thinking he shouldn't
take it seriously. Then he made the even more grave
(03:34):
mistake of trying to wave a sword in Trump's face
and daring him to come and get him. And while
here we are, but I see none of the echoes
of what the Iran or Afghanistan nation building experiences were
This is not the Middle East. We are dealing with
mafia like, cartel like organizations, and maybe some people see
(03:58):
jihadists organizations that way, but in some ways the cartels
are not as true believer as those Islamist groups might be,
and a lot of times they are better at shifting
gears and working out a new deal. So we still
have a lot to sort out. We've only gotten a
bad guy apprehended at this point, and the next leadership
(04:21):
is still to be determined. But this is very very
different in a lot of different respects.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
To me, what does that look like? How does this
become MacArthur in Japan circa end of World War Two
instead of Bremmer in Iraq circa two thousand and three.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well, number one, it seems like the Secretary of State
is and our National security advisor Mark Rubio are working
with the Vice President who's now the acting head of Venezuela,
and that is very, very different than what debathification was
in Iraq, and it's sort of disappointing to people who
(05:04):
are activist and wanted an immediate transition to democracy. I
would count myself among those that would like to see
it move in that direction faster, and we may. Yet
I do think some kind of a legitimate national election
has to be on the horizon as part of this transition.
That's where this controversy really originated. Maduro lost the last
(05:27):
election in Venezuela by a lot and yet kept power,
and the legitimate winner was pushed into exile. So that's
how we end up where we are. He's not the
legitimate head of the government. And that's also different from
what we faced in Iraq and Libya and elsewhere where
(05:47):
you had long established dictators that were running their countries.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yes, I mean I think that, for one thing, you're
not going to have even the most devoted Maduro thugs
strapping suicide vests on and running into crowded marketplaces like
that's that's not a thing.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
That's not going exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah. So this notion that oh, we're making the same
mistake as man in the least, I think is an absurdity.
And also I think that for the people, As a
guy who lives in South Florida, you're obviously you know
the Florida seene well, but you're a little bit to
my north. South Florida. We have a ton. You probably
have a lot of Venezuelans in the Tampa area too.
We have a ton of Venezuelan refugees down here. And
(06:31):
there's no debate among Venezuelans who have come this country
Chavez Majuro ruined their country. I mean, it's not like
we're stomping in there and there's some big constituency that says, no,
he actually is doing a good job, and no, we
let the test run itself out and it economically, security side, internationally,
(06:53):
you name it. It's hard to think of a faster
way to ruin a country, or a more thorough ruining
of a country than what the Chavista Maduro apparatus accomplished
in Venezuela.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
It's absolutely true. Really, over the last twenty five years,
there have been a lot of Venezuelans and a lot
of American cities. There's plenty in the DC area, as
witnessed recently in New York, there's plenty of people. And
while the teachers' unions and others might have organized in
protest for Trump's action, Venezuelans almost universally were just saying
(07:28):
thank you and celebrating that this thug was removed they
more than anybody know that there's still much more to go.
But Venezuela was a very beautiful, wealthy, successful country. A
lot of Americans really don't have the perspective that it's
only like four hundred and fifty miles to American territory
(07:49):
in Puerto Rico, and it's only like the distance between
Denver and d C to get from Caracas to Miami,
and so this is not that far away. You throw
into the mix the links of just like you mentioned
the Venezuelans that are in Miami, the Free Cuba constituency
and the Free Venezuela constituency are very simpatico and very similar.
(08:14):
And just like there were Cubans that were killed in
this raid mixed in with the wrong side, there are
a lot of Cubans in Venezuelans and the United States
that are mixed in together on the right side of this.
And that's a constituency that should matter. And as long
as we aren't sending in an occupation force and trying
(08:35):
to send the next generation of Americans to provide police
work inside of Venezuela, then we're staying, I think clear
where we're using the leverage we have President Trump's made
clear we're going to use the oil for revenue, and
that is also a glide path to a different trajectory
(08:56):
in whatever deal is struck. Even if we don't get
anything out of the oil, denying it to Russia, China
and others has an impact and the demonstration effect of
what the United States is capable of doing. And I
think it's been undervalued that if America was going to
let the revisionists bad guys of the world muck around
(09:18):
in our own backyard, then they didn't really believe we
were going to do very much in our distant abroad.
So if you're wondering how a China or Russia or
in Iran looks at this, it might not change all
of their calculus, but it shows well, if America is
really serious about fixing its border, and holy cow, did
(09:38):
we do a job on that, and we're serious about
fixing our neighborhood and pushing it into the right direction,
I do have to think twice about whether America is
ready to use force to shape things in my neighborhood too.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
You think we're going to get into that. I want
to talk about the axis of opposition around the world
and how they must see this, including the implications for
a standoff that is near and dear to your heart
and mind, which is of course China and Taiwan. But
just on Cuba. Do you think we know that the
(10:12):
Cuban regime was propped up by the oil from Venezuela
and that it's already it's a decrepit disaster of a
government and has been for a long time, but increasingly
now it's it's decrepit and just pathetic, right, It's you know,
there's no there's no hiding from the reality of what
they've done to their island and everything else. What do
you think the smart next steps look like from the
(10:32):
US side to continue on with the wind streak here
that we have in Venezuela as it pertains to Cuba.
What what should we do? What could we do? Well?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
First, we need to finish through to something that resembles
a positive, stable outcome in Venezuela. I think a real
transition where there's a completely different relationship with the United States,
where exiles feel safe to return. Then that I think
(11:04):
sets an extremely dangerous precedent for the Cuban regime to
stay in power, because there are a lot of Cubans
that would like to be able to go back, and
a lot of people living in Cuba know that if
those people came back, they're bringing wealth, entrepreneurship, opportunity ties
to the rest of the world that have been denied
them for generations. They know that the economic legitimacy of
(11:30):
that is very, very powerful, and if they see that
turn in Venezuela decisively, that is I think the single
best down payment we may But there's already been elections
in Latin America that are starting to turn our way.
Chile's had an election, we already have the very famous
Malay in Argentina. We have some Central American leaders who
(11:51):
have ruffled liberal feathers in the United States by showing
that they're ready to crack down on crime and get
serious about a positive relationship with the United States. I
think the next move with regard to Mexico is going
to have a real strong signal sent to Cuba and
other parts of the region. And frankly, Canada should wake
(12:12):
up a bit, given that Canada has has rested on
its laurels that we are dependent on energy from them,
and uh, if we have a new relationship with Venezuela,
where that black gold is flowing into our markets and refineries.
We're less dependent on Canada and we could have a
tougher negotiating position, and they'll kick themselves for not seeing
(12:36):
the Excel pipeline through.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
I think we find the headline for this podcast coming
out of nowhere here, but I like it. Watch your ass.
Canada says exactly, you better better, You better to check yourself.
Forget about Russia and China. It's Canada that these Anyway,
we'll come back into that action because I do want
to know and seriousness what you think about Russia, China
(12:59):
and others who are observing this situation. But our sponsor
here is Birch Gold Group. A new year means new
financial goals, like making sure your savings are secure and diversified.
So my question for all of you is will you
take my advice and reach out to Birch Gold Group.
I've already purchased gold from them myself. I've got their
gold in my safe, We've got gold coins, gold bars,
and they have a very good educational approach to this.
(13:21):
They want you, as an investor to understand a long
term gold thesis and why it is sound. Birch Gold
Group truly believes every American should own some physical gold
until January thirtieth. If your first time gold buyer, Birch
Gold is offering a rebate up to ten thousand dollars
on qualifying purchases. To claim eligibility, start the process text
my name buck Do ninety eight, ninety eight ninety eight.
Birch Gold can help you roll existing ira or four
(13:43):
oh one k into an IRA in gold and you're
still eligible for a rebate of up to ten thousand dollars.
Make right now your first time to buy gold and
take advantage of a rebate up to ten thousand dollars
when you buy by January thirtieth. Text the name buck
buck to ninety eight ninety eight ninety eight. Claim your
eligibility today text buck Do ninety eight, ninety eight, ninety eight.
All right, mister Yates, it's like a little bit of
(14:03):
around the horn here, responses changes, strategic setbacks or advantages
when it comes to Venezuela, let's start with let's start
with what Russia sees out of this, if anything, Well.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Number one, I'd say a lot of mostly liberal commentators
made the mistake of imagining that Putin or Cgenping or
any of these guys really care at all about the
international law or the United Nations. It's basically a forum
for them to bloviate. After all, Russia chaired the emergency
meeting on the invasion of Ukraine. That's how useful and
(14:38):
relevant that forum is, and so they'll agitate a bit.
I don't think it changes a lot of Moscow's calculation
with regard to the offerings on the ceasefire with Ukraine,
other than President Trump does burnish his reputation of Look,
I'm willing to sit down and be open to a deal,
(15:00):
but you better freaking make it. Drag it along with me,
and I am not afraid to use leverage and power
at my discretion and you just might feel it. So
if there's a way to change Putin's calculus, maybe that's
in there, but I wouldn't give that heavy weight. But
I think that this really did hit at China's calculations
(15:23):
in some more significant ways. If you look at what
the administration has done the designation of the cartels as
terrorist organizations. Those cartels have been the primary distributors and
money laundering organizations for the fentanyl trade that China's been
involved in. That's ding number one. We went after their
(15:43):
role in the Panama Canal. That project is incomplete, but
at least planted the flag. That was the first place
the Secretary of Rubio went as Secretary of State, very
different trajectory from his predecessors, but it planted the flag
in our hemisphere in a really strategic place that Chinese
thought they were having some advantage in this Venezuela move.
China has been using technical and strategic advantage. They want
(16:05):
to be able to have diversified oil supply. They like
having a base of operation that it's close to the
US and can kind of muck around in our hood,
and they have done so, and so really in some
ways it's degraded some of the leverage and disruption options
that China might have had if the balloon were to
go up in the Taiwan Straits, where they might have
pressured us to worry more about our near abroad and
(16:27):
pull back from supporting people in the First island chain
of Asia.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Almost seems remarkable, I think when people understand how much
the oil that was going out. Obviously Cuba is very
close by, and so that you could understand how that
relationship comes about. You got two commis that are a
short boat ride apart, but that Russia, China, Iran are
(16:52):
all involved in oil buying and the and oil access
when it comes to Venezuela, I think that seems kinnter too,
especially in the case of Russia, which has tremendous oil
reserves itself, but it's fungible, it's global, it's an asset,
and they're they're able to buy it because they don't
care about our sanctions, right, they buy it at cut
(17:14):
rate prices.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yeah, And that's kind of the point, is that number
one Venezuela has a much larger proven supply than people remember.
Somehow it's just sort of forgotten as an OPEC member,
but has a very substantial proven reserve. And the other
thing is it's been critical to any form of sanctions busting,
(17:38):
whether it's Iran, Russia or China. When sanctions are threatened
or imposed are more cooperative allies like Saudi Arabia, United
Arab Emirates and others will occasionally pull back from the
closeness of relations with those that have gotten themselves in trouble.
Venezuela was operating with its ghost fleet on the high seas,
(17:59):
which I think is the definition of piracy and why
we have navies. But it was the sanctions busting kind
of component of this to diversify that supply that matter.
It matters so much to China that they were looking
at digging an alternative to the Panama Canal through another
isthmus in Central America in order to have total control
(18:20):
in time of crisis. So yes, it was much more
important to our adversaries than people thought.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
It deviates everybody. He's at the Heritage Foundation. Follow him
on social media on X and mister Yates, we'll be
talking to you again soon.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Thanks very much, Buck Pleasure
Host
Buck Sexton
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!